Dune Drifter

Well, first of all I must admit that I am not really a great fan of the sci-fi genre, unless it turns out to be "Star Wars". But still, I was given the chance to sit down and watch the 2020 movie "Dune Drifter", and since I hadn't already seen it, of course I found the time to sit down to do so.

While "Dune Drifter" was semi-watchable, writer and director Marc Price wasn't really delivering a sci-fi classic with this particular movie. The plot was just way too generic and predictable.

The special effects were adequate for the movie, given it was a relatively low budget movie. And I will say that the props were definitely good. Well, aside from the suit that the 'enemy' was wearing, which was just a hardball protective outfit with a gasmask. Seriously? That was just so laughable and painful to watch, and it was so hard to take it serious.

"Dune Drifter" is the type of movie that you will watch once, then never think about it again, because the contents to the storyline and script were just so vague and mundane that there simply is no purpose to watching it a second time. Plus, the movie just can't support more than a single viewing anyway.

Initially I had thought that "Dune Drifter" might have been a mockbuster from The Asylum on the upcoming "Dune" movie. Luckily it wasn't that. But let's just be honest, "Dune Drifter" was by no means a memorable movie regardless.

My rating of "Dune Drifter" settles on a generous three out of ten stars.

Let's be clear, this is film is better than the "one star reviews" would have you believe. Does it have its problems? Sure. The "nine star reviews" are also over the top. There should have been more breathing room for the setup in the beginning of the film, so that we get to know the characters better and care more for them.

Having said that, they clearly made the most out of a very limited budget... and at times I was impressed with what they managed to pull off. The astronaut suits looked pretty neat, as did the ships and the combat scenes.

Part of the problem, is that most of the story (from the second act onwards), happens on a mostly deserted planet. It's why the plot had to be pretty basic and some reviewers complain about it being slow. However, that's mostly a factor of the limited budget they had to work with.

Could it have been better? Yes, but you shouldn't go into this expecting the same experience as you would with films that have ten (or one hundred) times the budget. If you have some sort of concept of how difficult it is to make something yourself, you can appreciate that these kids did a good job... and also that there's still room for improvement!

"How can we sell this piece of movie gold? Think damn you, think!"

"I know! Stick the word DUNE big as brass on the cover art, then add the word Drifter in tiny writing."

"Right, that's the plan, meeting adjourned."

A budget take on sci-fi, and it shows. The various components of ships, weapons and suits are very recognizable and does not look like advanced technology. But ok, maybe that's what they were going for. The story is paper thin, there are some suspenseful moments that work well, and the little acting involved isn't horrible from the main character. The CGI is cheap, and I keep thinking things are too repetitive, lumpy and cumbersome. A lot of it is probably due to what we are used to seeing in more expensive sci-fi. I read a review where someone said it could have been a short movie, and it would have covered everything they needed. I second that opinion. A 25 minute feature wouldn't be out of place.

It's definitely not going to win oscars but for a low budget flick it actually wasn't bad. Pacing was overall fine, acting was sub par and it wrapped up very fast but that's to be expected in B flicks. Worth a one time watch for those not afraid of B movies.